1. Field of the Invention.
This invention relates to a chassis and suspension arrangement for motor vehicles with a forward mounted engine which is firmly connected by a rigid connecting member surrounding the driveshaft to a rear differential unit.
2. Description of the Prior Art. A chassis and suspension arrangement of the type initially mentioned is described in the Swiss Motor Car Revue No. 41 of Sept. 19, 1968 on pages 3 and 19. In the described vehicle, the engine and transmission assembly is firmly connected to a rear differential and wheel suspension unit. In the known vehicle, however, the differential is secured to an upper crossmember which is secured by rubber mounts to the body while the wheel suspension arms have rubber bushings securing it to an independent lower rear axle crossmember which has widely spaced rubber isolators thereon mounting it to the body.
This known chassis and suspension arrangement exhibits the disadvantage that it is complicated in construction and assembly due to its two separate rear corssmembers. Furthermore, only the oblique control arms of the wheel suspension are "double" insulated to resist the transmission vibration to the body, once through their rubber bushings and a second time through the rubber isolators of the rear axle crossmember. Due to the direct fixing of the differential to the upper crossmember, vibrations about the longitudinal axis of the vehicle caused by the rolling forces of the engine, and gear noises of the differential are transmitted to the floor of the body with only single insulation provided by the rubber mounts mounting the crossmember to the floor.
The aim of the present invention is to improve a chassis and suspension arrangement in such a way that on the one hand the structural and assembly outlay is reduced, and on the other hand the vibration insulation of the rear mounted differential is improved.